Which Countries Are Really The Richest?

When countries are ranked for the size of their economies or their overall gross wealth, the U.S. is usually at the top of the list, followed by countries like China, Japan or Germany. But sorting nations for their per-capita average wealth—or even for their median per-capita wealth—other countries win out. Using the first metric, Switzerland is the richest country in the world at an average per-capita wealth of around $685,000, followed by Luxembourg and the United States.

Looking at median per-capita wealth—the wealth of the person that shares their country with an equal number of richer and poorer people—Iceland tops the ranking with around $413,000 in wealth being held by this (imaginary) person.

Per-capita assets already show a more balanced picture of a country’s wealth by acknowledging that smaller countries with fewer citizens will accumulate less wealth. Yet, calculating averages does not take into account how wealth is distributed in a society. Median wealth, on the other hand, increases the more equal a country’s assets are allocated. Iceland and other Scandinavian countries are known for their more equal wealth distribution and data by Credit Suisse reflects this to a degree. Denmark comes in rank 7 and Norway in rank 10 for per-capita median wealth.

The U.S. is the third-wealthiest country on a per-capita average basis, yet Americans are only in rank 15 for median wealth. The situation in Belgium is the other way round: It is listed 13th for average wealth, but third for median wealth, showing that it is a more egalitarian country in terms of wealth distribution.